Bielat talks jobs at Stonehill in Easton

Sean Bielat, the Republican candidate running for the 4th Congressional seat, made an appearance at Stonehill College on Tuesday.

Amy Carboneau

Stonehill College senior Melissa Beaumont is from Connecticut and won’t be voting in the 4th Congressional District.

But she attended a town hall-style forum on campus Tuesday night to ask what congressional candidate and businessman Sean Bielat had to say to students looking for a job.

“The No. 1 issue is jobs and the economy,” Bielat told a crowd of about 30. “It’s what everybody’s talking about.”

Bielat is a Republican running against Democrat Joseph P. Kennedy III of Brookline for the congressional seat that has been held by Barney Frank, D-Newton, since 1981. Frank is retiring at the end of this term.

In a gathering of mostly college students, the 37-year-old businessman from Norfolk pitched himself as the man with the experience needed to help grow the economy.

“It just makes sense to me to send to Washington, right now, people who have actually worked in the economy,” he said.

After speaking with business owners, Bielat said that many of them aren’t hiring because of an “utter lack” of predictability for potential tax increases.

“Those are jobs that aren’t being created,” he said.

In an hour-long session, Bielat fielded questions on issues ranging from defense spending to the role of government in the economy.

There are two visions, he said. One is that “government is smarter than we are and better at figuring out how to spend money.” And the other – his vision – is “about people and individuals and businesses and doing whatever we can to empower them.”

“That’s the path we need to return to,” he added.

A veteran of the Marine Corps, Bielat also answered questions about defense spending, saying the government needs to “square” cuts in defense spending with keeping a strong military.

In the end, he thanked his audience as well as his opponent, who stood in the same spot hours earlier in what Bielat said was a rare public appearance for his opponent. Bielat said Kennedy has turned down 19 offers to debate and held no town hall forums, compared to the 15 hosted by Bielat.

Amy Carboneau may be reached at acarboneau@enterprisenews.com, or follow her on Twitter @amycarboneau.